Will Denver see 300 days of sunshine this year?

DENVER ( KDVR ) — Colorado is known to flaunt the amount of sun it sees every year — 300 days of sunshine — but based on previous weather patterns, that’s not always true.

In 2023, FOX31 looked at Denver records specifically and used previous weather patterns from the National Weather Service to debunk the myth that the city sees 300 days of sunshine every year. But, depending on what you consider a cloudy day, this year has seen a fair amount of sunshine.

Despite some snowstorms earlier this year, Denver has had clear skies. The city recorded the second-hottest summer in history and the hottest September in history . Heading into October, the city hasn’t felt like fall as the weather continues to be in the sunny 70s and 80s , which will ultimately delay winter weather and the first snow of the season .

With 78 days left in the year, as of Oct. 14, Denver could still record a handful of sunny days.

How many sunny days has Denver recorded so far?

Climatology reports from NWS use three different sky cover categories: fair, partly cloudy and cloudy. Fair means cloud cover is between 0-30%, partly cloudy means cloud cover is between 40-70% and cloudy is between 80-100%.

A “cloudy day” is relative for each person. If you consider fair and partly cloudy days as “sunny,” then the Mile High City has already had 264 days, as of Oct. 14. This means the city would only need 36 more days of fair and partly cloudy weather to reach the rumored 300 days of sunshine.

However, if you consider a sunny day as only falling under the “fair” category, then the 300 days of sunshine mantra stays a myth, as Denver has only had 85 days of fair skies so far.

So, whether or not Denver is close to breaking 300 days of sunshine depends. If you believe a sunny day includes a nearly cloudless sky, then Denver is nowhere near 300 days. But if you consider a sunny day to include some clouds, the city could tally 300 days of sunshine by the end of the year.

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